Operation: Family
by Challenger2011
Summary: A mysterious relic causes havoc for the Autobots. While Ratchet tries to solve a problem it caused, the rest of Team Prime will have to work through an unusual situation. On hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.**

* * *

Bumblebee dodged another blast before taking cover behind a rock next to Arcee. The two of them were attempting to get the latest unearthed relic from the Decepticons before they had a chance to use it. But it seemed that the 'Cons weren't going to make this easy for them, which most likely had something to do with the fact that Megatron was there.

"_Do you know what that relic does 'Cee?" _ He questioned.

"No idea, just try not to get hit by it."

"_Okay."_

Glancing at the rocks around them the scout remembered how he had used the dust and dirt from them to trick Airachnid once. Maybe he could do something similar to give him enough cover to snatch the relic. Quickly he shot at all of the rocks, stirring up a large cloud of dust as a cover before sneaking out to try to get the relic before the 'Cons could leave. Bumblebee thought he was doing a good job when he suddenly felt himself get blasted in the chest. He let out a pained yelp as he felt the pain from the hit spread over his entire body.

_Scrap_, Arcee thought when she heard Bumblebee's pained yelp and she started to search for him.

By the time all of the dust had settled, the Decepticons were gone and she finally was able to spot Bumblebee. She rushed over to him and let out a gasp when she got a good look at him.

"Oh no… I need to get you to Ratchet."

* * *

"How did this happen?" Ratchet asked glancing over at Arcee before returning his attention to Bumblebee.

"I don't know. We were trying to get a relic from the 'Cons and I guess 'Bee got hit by it, and then that happened," the cobalt blue femme gestured towards the scout who now appeared to be the size of a sparkling. "Is he actually –?

"Is he actually a sparkling? Physically he appears to be that way, mentally is another thing entirely."

"What do you mean?"

"Well look at him. Is he behaving like a sparkling normally would behave?"

Arcee looked at Bumblebee to see that he was sitting with his arms crossed with a grumpy look on his face. He was purposely trying to avoid looking at her and Ratchet. Normally a sparkling would be vying for attention, not outright avoiding it. The fact that Bumblebee was avoiding attention could be an indicator that his still had the mind of his normal youngling self. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because that meant that Bumblebee understood everything that was going on around him and they wouldn't have to explain everything to him, but It was bad because that meant Bumblebee knew that there was no way that he was ever going to be able to help fight the 'Cons until he was back to normal. And when Bumblebee thought he was useless, they never heard the end of it.

"So he's just stuck in a sparkling body then?"

"Essentially it appears that way, but there is a chance that whatever caused his body to revert back to a sparkling state just has not affected his mind yet."

Now that grabbed Bumblebee's attention. The newly turned sparkling looked at the medic with a mortified expression on his face while he rapidly shook his head no. It was clear that he was terrified at the prospect of that happening to him.

"Can you turn him back to normal?" Arcee asked the question that Bumblebee himself desperately wanted to know the answer to.

"I'm not sure. If I had the relic that turned him into a sparkling, then perhaps I could. Without it, I'm not sure, but I'll see what I can do," Ratchet replied before picking up Bumblebee, who immediately protested. "Until Optimus gets back from patrol and I can explain this to him, you're going to watch him."

"What! Why me?" Arcee asked as she was handed the sparkling.

"Haven't you said before that he's like a little brother to you?"

"Well yeah, but…"

"No buts, be a good sister then and keep him busy while I try to figure out a way to turn him back to normal."

* * *

Arcee looked at the sparkling that was sitting on her berth. She was at a complete loss at what to do with him. It had been a while since she had helped take care of a sparkling and she was unsure what to do with Bumblebee now. She remembered that sparklings liked to be held and that they recharged a lot. Maybe she could figure out a way to get Bumblebee to recharge for a little while? Deciding to give it a try, she carefully picked up the tiny yellow sparkling and held him close to her chest. Instantly Bumblebee looked up at her with a glare, which came off as more adorable than threatening.

"Sorry 'Bee, but that doesn't work very well as a sparkling. You're just too cute to be threatening now," Arcee shook her head. "I don't know what your problem is. You like hugs, just think of this as a hug and recharge."

Bumblebee continued glaring at Arcee even though he knew it wasn't going to faze her. He wished he could communicate the fact that he didn't want to be treated like a sparkling to her better, but unfortunately it seemed he couldn't even use his beeps anymore. He had tried earlier and all that had come out were little sparkling chirps and clicks, which annoyed him to no end. Now he couldn't talk or do anything. And the fact that Ratchet had said there was still a chance that his mind could revert back to a sparkling state as well only made matters worse. He didn't want to go back to being a sparkling. Everyone would be stuck protecting him nonstop then and he didn't want to become a burden for them. He let out a small sigh and snuggled closer to Arcee. He had to admit that this was pretty comfortable. Soon he found his mind becoming fuzzy on what had been bothering him and before he knew it he was drifting off into recharge.

* * *

Optimus Prime mulled over the information that his medic had just given him. He had not realized that there was a relic that had the capabilities to revert one back to a sparkling state. And the fact that that was what had happened to his youngest soldier and scout made the news more troubling. They would have to make sure that there was no way for the Decepticons or MECH to get ahold of the sparkling. To ensure that he remained safe, someone was going to have to become Bumblebee's guardian.

"Bumblebee will require a guardian for the time being," he stated to Ratchet.

"I agree, but who will be his guardian?" When Optimus remained silent, Ratchet had an idea of who the Autobot leader had in mind. "Optimus you aren't honestly considering being his guardian are you?"

"The others are already the guardians of Jack and Miko. It would be too burdensome to have one of them be the guardian of one of the humans and Bumblebee, and still expect them to be able to go out and fight."

"Optimus you are our leader. You don't have time to watch over a sparkling, especially in the case of Bumblebee where we don't even know what the full extent of his transformation into this sparkling state will be yet!"

"I am aware of that Ratchet."

"And you've never taken care of a sparkling before. Even if Bumblebee's mind doesn't revert back to a sparkling state, which I'm becoming doubtful that it won't, he will still be unable to take care of himself."

"I know. But the others are busy and we need you to focus on finding a way to turn Bumblebee back to normal. I believe I can handle him until then."

It was then that Arcee walked into the room, holding a still recharging sparkling. Bumblebee's head was resting against the femme's chest and one of his hands was clutching one of her fingers. He looked very peaceful in recharge, and even Arcee had a small smile on her face from where she was holding him.

"I have to go pick up Jack from school now and I can't take 'Bee with me," Arcee said handing Bumblebee to Ratchet.

"I needed to do some more scans on him anyway," Ratchet said as the femme drove out of the base.

The medic gently placed the sparkling down on his medical berth before pulling out a scanner and scanning his small body. Concentrating on Bumblebee's head, Ratchet let out a small sigh as his scans showed that his previous speculations of Bumblebee's mind reverting back to a sparkling state were proving to be true. At the current rate, Bumblebee would be fully back to a sparkling state in a matter of days at the most, hours at the least. He was going to have to come up with a way to turn him back soon, or Bumblebee was going to be reliving his sparklinghood.

"You really think you can handle him?" Ratchet asked Optimus one last time.

"Yes, Ratchet, I believe I can."

"Alright then," Ratchet handed the leader the sparkling. "He should remain in recharge for a little while longer. Good luck. He may not want to misbehave, but he's not going to be able to help it. He's constantly going to be slipping further into a sparkling mentality."

"I understand."

Optimus looked down at the sparkling recharging in his arms. He was commander of an army and had been in countless battles, how hard could watching over one sparkling be?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.**

**A/N: I just want to thank everyone for all of the feedback on chapter 1. I really appreciate it and I hope that you all will continue to enjoy the story!**

* * *

Before he even onlined his optics, Bumblebee knew that someone different was holding him. He wasn't exactly sure how he was able to tell, but somehow the warmth emitting from the spark of whoever was holding him was different than how Arcee's had been when she had held him to her chest. Instinctively he turned his head to get a little closer, before he onlined his optics and found himself staring into a red chest. He glanced up to see Optimus Prime gazing down at him and quickly turned his head away, letting out a small chirp of embarrassment for allowing himself to act like a sparkling in front of his leader. Sure he may be in the body of a sparkling, but he was not going to allow himself to mentally become one. He just hoped that there was some surefire way for him to prevent it.

"Bumblebee?" Optimus asked trying to gain his attention.

Bumblebee slowly lifted his head back up to meet the Prime's optics. Optimus could tell just by looking in Bumblebee's optics that the scout was still quite upset about what had happened to him. At the very least he could take that as a sign that Bumblebee hadn't reached a sparkling mentality yet.

"Are you alright?"

The sparkling just merely shrugged in response and started to look around the room.

"Bumblebee," Optimus tried to gain the sparkling's attention once again. Once Bumblebee was looking at him, the Autobot leader continued. "I know that you may not be too fond of what I am about to say, but while you remain in a sparkling state, you are going to have a guardian."

Bumblebee let out a small chirp of annoyance before Optimus gave him a look telling him to let him finish.

"If it is alright with you, I would like to be your guardian until Ratchet can find a way to turn you back to normal."

The sparkling stared at the Prime in shock, as if he couldn't believe that he had heard the words that had come out of Optimus' mouth correctly. Truthfully he had expected that he would end up being stuck in Ratchet's med-bay for most of his time as a sparkling, to let the medic find a way to cure him. The thought of Optimus deciding to become his guardian had never even crossed his mind, after all Optimus did usually seem to keep his distance from the rest of them most of the time. Bumblebee quickly nodded his head to let Optimus know that he was fine with him being his guardian for the time being. Not even a minute later he felt a sharp pain in his head. He let out a startled yelp as he grabbed his head, causing Optimus to look down at him in concern.

"Bumblebee what is wrong?"

Bumblebee managed to point to his head before letting out another cry as the pain got worse. Optimus frowned and quickly headed back towards the med-bay. The moment he stepped inside, Ratchet took a now screaming Bumblebee from him and began to do some scans.

"Ratchet what is wrong with him."

"Bumblebee is trying to resist letting his mind revert to a sparkling state, and frankly with his current physical state, he can't handle the pressure it's causing. As much as I hate to say this, Bumblebee is going to have to allow his mind to revert, or this will only continue to grow worse," the medic replied handing the sparkling back to Optimus. "Hold him close to your spark, with any luck it will help calm him down."

Sure enough after several minutes, Bumblebee's cries of pain died down and Ratchet repeated what he had just told Optimus to the sparkling to make sure that he understood.

"I promise you Bumblebee, I will find a way to turn you back to normal," Ratchet stated when he received a look of sadness from the sparkling.

Bumblebee simply let out a small sigh and snuggled closer to Optimus' chest. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he have to be the one that the team was going to worry about nonstop because he was going to be a stupid sparkling? He was already the youngest, it didn't seem fair.

"Perhaps you should try giving him some energon now," Ratchet suggested to Optimus, handing the leader some energon.

Optimus nodded and tried giving Bumblebee the energon, who immediately pushed it away, letting it be known that he did not want to be fed. Ratchet gave the sparkling a stern look and Bumblebee then reluctantly let Optimus attempt to feed him. Unfortunately for both of them, little of the blue liquid actually ended up inside of the sparkling, with majority of it ending up on top of him.

"We are going to have to find a different way to fed you," Optimus sighed to the clearly annoyed sparkling as he cleaned the energon off of him.

"I've contacted Arcee and Bulkhead to let them know of our current situation," Ratchet said walking back over to them. "June has suggested to Arcee that we use baby bottles for feeding Bumblebee and is sending some over."

"Will they work?"

"It's possible. If they don't I'll modify them to where they will; Bumblebee needs some way to get energon and we don't have any supplies for a sparkling."

* * *

By the time that he heard the sounds of vehicles coming inside the base, Bumblebee knew his mind was reverting. He was having a hard time paying attention and he had caught himself doing some very sparkling-like things several times during the past hour. It upset him to no end, but he was trying to hide that from Optimus and Ratchet. Of course based on what Ratchet had said, it wouldn't be bothering him much longer. After several hours, he would be back to being a sparkling and most likely wouldn't even remember that it had bothered him.

"'Bee?"

Bumblebee turned his head to see Arcee standing next to Optimus. He hadn't even noticed her walking over. The femme smiled at him and took him away from Optimus. She walked a little ways away and then sat him down in front of June, Jack, Miko, and Raf. Slag, now even they were bigger than him! At least Raf only looked a tad bit taller than him.

"Hi there Bumblebee," June smiled, bending down in front of him.

Bumblebee noticed that she had a bag with him and curiously tilted his head towards it trying to see what was inside.

"I wasn't sure what all a Cybertronian baby would need besides bottles, but I thought that maybe you would like these," she said pulling out a blanket and a stuffed bumblebee toy.

The sparkling let out a curious chirp as he was handed the toy of his namesake. He looked back at June happily and gave her a small hug as a thank you.

"Wow he's so small," Miko commented.

"He's a sparkling Miko," Bulkhead chuckled. "He's supposed to be small."

"Yes he is and he also hasn't had much energon, could I see one of those bottles?" Ratchet asked.

"Of course, here you go," June said handing the medic one of the bottles.

Ratchet examined it for a moment before walking over and carefully filling it with energon. Once it was filled, he handed it to Arcee who had just picked Bumblebee back up. The femme had him cradled in her arms, while Bumblebee warily stared at the bottle she was holding. After a few minutes hunger got the best of him and he started to drink the energon. The others watched as Bumblebee contently suckled until all of the energon was gone. The sparkling let out a quiet yawn and started to snuggle up against Arcee to recharge, before he stopped himself and shook his head to wake himself back up. He let out a small chirp and pointed at the ground, trying to let Arcee know that he wanted to be placed down. Fortunately Arcee caught on to what he wanted and soon Bumblebee was crawling over to where Raf was at. If he was going to back to a full sparkling state soon, he wanted to get to hang out with his human best friend one more time before that happened.

"Hey Bumblebee, do you want to play with my race car?"

Bumblebee nodded his head as his human friend showed him the toy and they began to play.

* * *

An hour later, Bumblebee had tired himself into a light recharge. Optimus had gone out on a small patrol, so Arcee was the one watching the sparkling in the meantime. Jack was sitting with her as she held the sparkling.

"So what will he be like when he turns into a full sparkling, like Ratchet said he would?" Jack asked.

"Similar to a human baby," she replied. "He'll have to be fed and he'll have to recharge a lot. He'll also want a lot of attention I imagine. But it's hard to tell, all sparklings are different. One thing is for sure, we have to make sure that the 'Cons don't get ahold of him."

"What would happen if they do?"

"There's no telling. But if Megatron found out that Optimus is his guardian for the time being… I wouldn't want to see the results," Arcee tightened her grip on the recharging sparkling. "I'm amazed that Optimus even wanted to be his guardian."

"Because the Decepticons might go after 'Bee?"

"That's part of it. The other is once Bumblebee is back to normal Optimus might have trouble putting him out in the field for battles. Bumblebee is going to be really dependent on Optimus for a while; it would be hard for a close bond to not form between them."

"And you're worried about that happening," Jack stated.

"A little. It could be good for Optimus to get close to him; there are times when all of us would like for him to be less distant. It's just that I don't want Bumblebee to get hurt."

Jack looked back down at Bumblebee, _'Poor guy, it must really suck not being able to grow up.'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show. I wish I did though.**

* * *

"Bumblebee, please recharge."

Optimus watched as the sparkling crawled around on his berth, refusing to recharge. When he had returned from his patrol earlier, Bumblebee's mind had finally fully reverted back to a sparkling state. It had been chaotic at first, as they all soon discovered that the sparkling was extremely confused as to who any of them were and was trying to get away from them. Fortunately the Autobot leader had managed to gain his trust, though he could not say the same for the others. But Optimus was sure that Bumblebee would warm up to everyone soon. He just needed to be around them more. That would have to wait until later though. Right now he needed to figure out a way to get the sparkling to recharge.

"Bumblebee," Optimus said, hoping to gain his attention. The sparkling looked up at him, before letting out a few clicks and crawling over to him. Optimus carefully picked him up, causing Bumblebee to emit some more happy clicks. "Enough playing now, you need to recharge."

Bumblebee tilted his head in confusion and started to squirm around, trying to be put down. The Autobot leader let out a sigh. Why was this so difficult? Bumblebee had had no problems falling to recharge when he was taking naps earlier, why would he not recharge now?

: Ratchet? : He contacted his medic over the comm.

: What? : The medic tiredly answered.

: I cannot get Bumblebee to recharge. What do I do? :

: Try keeping him close to your spark. The warmth emitting from it should help lure him into recharge. Be prepared to not get much recharge though. He most likely will wake up wanting to be fed again at some point. Are you sure you want to be his guardian? :

: Yes Ratchet, I am sure. I know that I do not know much about taking care of sparklings, but I will learn. I am sorry for bothering you. :

"Alright Bumblebee, now you are going to recharge," Optimus laid down and placed the sparkling on top of the area where his spark was located. Instinctively Bumblebee curled up closer to him – the warmth and rhythmic beating of his guardian's spark slowly making him feel drowsy.

"Rest sparkling," Optimus quietly said, gently rubbing the back of the sparkling's head until Bumblebee finally fell into recharge.

* * *

Arcee sighed as she looked at the sparkling that was hiding in the corner of her room. She had decided to watch Bumblebee for the day as an attempt at getting him to feel comfortable being around her again. Unfortunately so far she was failing. Bumblebee was trying to stay as far away from her as possible. It probably didn't help that Jack was in there with them. The femme had hoped that having her human partner there would help Bumblebee get used to being around humans again as well, but the sparkling seemed just as wary of him as he was with her.

"We're not going to hurt you 'Bee," she said as an attempt at trying to coax him out.

"Why doesn't he remember you guys?" Jack asked.

"Ratchet said that his sparkling mind can't process as much as it could when he was a youngling, so a lot of his memories are either locked away in a deep recess of his mind or a jumbled mess. So we all have to work at getting him to feel safe being around us again. Which isn't the easiest task, since as far as he's concerned; we're all just a bunch of strange 'bots that aren't his creators."

"Creators?" the human questioned.

"His parents," Arcee clarified.

"Where are 'Bee's parents?"

"No one knows; they're presumed to be dead. I don't think Bumblebee ever really even knew them either."

"Why do you think that?"

"On Cybertron, there were centers for sparklings and younglings. They were designed to try to keep them out of the war. They were attacked later on, and most of the younglings and sparklings were killed. Bumblebee was one of the lucky ones."

Jack glanced back over at the sparkling and noticed that he was now curiously beginning to crawl over towards him and Arcee. Apparently not focusing on him for a while had made Bumblebee feel more comfortable. Arcee noticed that the sparkling was coming over to them as well and bent down and gently picked him up.

"Hey there Bumblebee," she cooed. "I'm Arcee, your big sister."

While she wasn't related to Bumblebee, she did view him as a little brother, and she wanted him to know that. It didn't escape her, or Jack for that matter, that Bumblebee perked up when she said sister. Arcee gave a slight smile, thinking that this might be a sign that the sparkling would feel a lot more comfortable around her.

"And this is Jack," she lowered the sparkling down to where he had a better look at her partner. "He's like a brother to me too."

Bumblebee tilted his head curiously as he looked at the human. He didn't look like his guardian or the 'bot that said that she was his sister. His sister had said something about him being a brother to her; did that mean that he was his brother too? Arcee and Jack were oblivious to the sparkling's pondering as, the femme sat down next to the human on her berth. Bumblebee wriggled out of her grasp and crawled over to Jack.

"Hi 'Bee," Jack said as the sparkling let out a few clicks at him before sitting on his lap. The teen looked at Bumblebee in surprise before turning to look at Arcee.

Arcee couldn't help but smile at the sight of her two little brothers, but she could tell that Jack wasn't sure what he should do with Bumblebee, so she took the sparkling back from him. The sparkling clicked at her and snuggled closer to her. It didn't really surprise her that he did that; she knew that sparklings needed closeness for them to feel secure.

"I'm glad to see that now you like us," Arcee said to the sparkling.

Bumblebee let out a few more clicks in response.

: Arcee can you bring Bumblebee to the med-bay. I want to do some scans to make sure everything is functioning properly. :

: I'm on my way. :

Arcee got up and told Jack that Ratchet needed to see Bumblebee before leaving the room. Once she entered the med-bay, she placed Bumblebee down on a medical berth. The moment he saw Ratchet however, he began to whimper and reached his arms out to Arcee.

"You're going to have to hold him," the medic stated to the femme.

"Fine," Arcee picked up Bumblebee and lay down on the berth with him. "It's okay 'Bee, Ratchet's not going to hurt you."

Once the femme and sparkling were settled, Ratchet began to do his scans. For the most part, everything appeared to be normal. Ratchet couldn't help but hope that he would be able to find a way to turn Bumblebee back to normal before he started to try to talk as he scanned the sparkling's voice box. It would be difficult to explain to him why he couldn't speak properly while he was still a sparkling. There was one thing that concerned the medic though. Bumblebee's spark was pulsing slightly erratically. Ratchet had a feeling that he knew what the reason for that was.

Sparklings' sparks tended to pulse at a rate similar to their creators; this was what allowed the sparkbonds between them to stay strong. If they were separated for long periods of time, the sparkling's spark would get out of sync, weakening the bond and sometimes causing great distress for the sparkling. Bumblebee was now a sparkling with no creators, and therefore no sparkbonds. Because no one was keeping it in sync, his spark wasn't keeping a regular tempo. While it wasn't causing him any problems at the moment, there was the possibility that it could later on. They were going to have to think up a way to fix this soon. It was possible that Bumblebee's spark could try to get in sync with one of theirs, but it was impossible to tell if it would stay that way without having to keep him close to whoever's spark his was in sync with all the time, as there would be no bond to keep it that way.

"Ratchet, what's wrong?" Arcee asked, seeing that the medic was deep in thought.

"Bumblebee's spark is not pulsing properly," the medic explained. "I'm trying to think of a way to fix that."

"He's going to be alright though, right?" the femme asked, looking at the sparkling that was lying on top of her.

"I hope so."

* * *

Optimus glanced down at the sparkling that was recharging on his berth. Ratchet had told him to keep a close watch over Bumblebee because of his spark. It greatly concerned the Autobot leader that there was a chance that Bumblebee was going to have some problems before he could be turned back to his normal self. Carefully he lifted the sparkling up and let him rest against his chest. Hopefully they would find some way to resolve the issue before it became too much of a problem.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.**

* * *

Bumblebee happily clicked to himself as Optimus held him close to his chest, completely oblivious to the worried looks that he was receiving from the others. All of Team Prime, the humans included, knew of the current condition of the sparkling's spark. Ratchet had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to turn Bumblebee back to his normal youngling state, once he found a solution, until his spark was steady and not giving off erratic pulses. At the same time, however, the medic had no idea what to do about their problem. Bumblebee noticed Jack standing with Miko and Raf at the television and started to squirm a little in Optimus' arms. The Autobot leader glanced down at the sparkling and noticed he was pointing towards the humans. He hesitated for a moment, but then carefully placed Bumblebee down next to Jack.

Immediately Bumblebee latched on to Jack's leg, letting out a happy chirp. Jack bent down and gently patted Bumblebee on the head. Arcee had already explained to him that the sparkling seemed to be under the impression that Jack was his family. The teen already considered Arcee to be family, so he didn't really mind adding Bumblebee as well. Bumblebee spared a glance at Miko and Raf. He had only spent a little time around them and he wasn't sure what to think of them. Miko was really loud and he wasn't sure if he liked that. Raf seemed nice though and he was closer to his size, which made Bumblebee wonder if he was a sparkling too. While trying to keep the sparkling entertained and happy, the human teens listened in on the Autobots' discussion.

"It's not like 'Bee's the first orphaned sparkling," Bulkhead pointed out. "Others haven't had creators to keep their sparks stable either."

"Yes Bulkhead, but those sparklings also had relatives that they had spark bonds with that helped and those that didn't were able to form small bonds with their adopted creators," Ratchet explained. "And then the ones that weren't fortunate enough to have adopted creators or relatives either suffered from a weak spark or offlined."

"Well he's fine now, so we have time to figure out something," the former Wrecker replied.

"I am afraid that is not the case Bulkhead. Bumblebee's spark was giving him pain earlier," Optimus solemnly said.

"Wait, Bumblebee's creators died when he was a sparkling," Arcee spoke up. "Why didn't he have a weak spark before?"

"Bumblebee's spark was weak, though only a little bit weaker than what it should have been. When his creators died, he was at the point where his spark could support itself for the most part. Now, he's back at the point where he can't," Ratchet said. "It is possible to try to sync his spark up with one of ours, but I am not sure if it would be a permanent solution or if it would even work."

"It is worth a try Ratchet," Optimus replied, gazing at the sparkling that was still latched on to Jack's leg. "Tell us what we need to do."

* * *

Optimus stood on the mesa above the base, holding Bumblebee close to his spark. The sparkling had been curiously looking around, letting out many clicks and chirps, when they had first come out, but was now snuggled close to his chest. It was clear to the Autobot leader that the sparkling wasn't feeling very well at the moment; no doubt his spark was starting to bother him again. Unfortunately so far it seemed that he wasn't having much luck with getting Bumblebee's spark to sync with his own. As he gently stroked the sparkling's back, he wondered if maybe he should have let one of the others try instead. Ratchet had mentioned that they might have to get closer to Bumblebee. And Optimus wasn't sure if he could do that.

Ever since he had become a Prime and had received the Matrix of Leadership, becoming close to others was a difficult task for him. The Matrix provided him wisdom from the past Primes, and all of that wisdom seemed to prevent him from forming close bonds to the ones around him. For the most part he understood why. Becoming close to others would make it difficult to send them out into battle, as well as give the Decepticons a clear weakness to exploit. But in a situation such as this, where Bumblebee _needed _him to become close, it was rather frustrating.

"I am sorry if I am unable to help you Bumblebee," he apologized to the sparkling, as he let out a small cry.

Bumblebee simply curled up closer to him, clearly seeking any sort of comfort he could. Optimus continued to stroke Bumblebee's back and was about to head back into the base when Ratchet came up behind him.

"I thought he might want some energon," the medic said, handing Optimus a bottle.

"Thank you Ratchet," Optimus sighed, as he began to feed Bumblebee.

"No luck so far?"

"No. I believe someone else may have to try."

Ratchet shook his head, "Optimus you're the one who wanted to be his guardian. You chose that role and Bumblebee has accepted you as it. Bumblebee will have to remain with the one who his spark is synced with the most. If it is someone else, he will think that you have abandoned him."

"I do not know what to do old friend."

"Keep trying Optimus, Bumblebee needs you. Let him spend some time with Bulkhead, so he can gain his trust, and try again later."

* * *

"This is boring," Miko complained as she watched Bumblebee crawl away from her and Bulkhead. "He's totally ignoring us!"

"Just give him a little bit Miko," Bulkhead said. "He'll come over to us when he's ready."

Miko wasn't really one for waiting though. She determinedly walked over in front of the sparkling and bent down to where he could see her face. Bulkhead warily watched as she enthusiastically said hi to Bumblebee. He wasn't sure how the sparkling would react to her suddenly appearing in his line of sight, talking to him. When Bumblebee let out a surprised chirp and started to move backwards a tad bit, the former Wrecker was expecting things to end badly. He was surprised that when Miko continued talking, Bumblebee started to move closer to her out of curiosity. Once the sparkling was close enough, the human gave him a hug, causing Bumblebee to let out another surprised chirp.

"See Bulkhead, we didn't have to wait," she grinned, trying to pick Bumblebee up. "Wow he's heavy."

"Maybe you should keep him on the ground then Miko," Bulkhead chuckled. "He's not going to like it if you accidently drop him if you pick him up."

"I won't drop him," Miko huffed as she finally got the sparkling a tad bit off the ground.

Bumblebee clapped his hands together, letting out a series of happy clicks. To him, Miko trying to lift him up was a game. Soon both the human and sparkling found themselves being lifted up in the air. Miko sat down in Bulkhead's palm, with Bumblebee sitting on her lap – a big grin placed on her face.

"I think he liked it," Miko said.

"Looks like it," Bulkhead replied, before glancing down at Bumblebee. "Hey there 'Bee."

The sparkling happily chirped at Bulkhead, before leaning back on Miko and dimming his optics. He was starting to get tired. Bulkhead noticed this and carefully picked Bumblebee off of Miko – carefully placing Miko on his shoulder as they went to find Optimus.

"Optimus, someone's getting tired," Bulkhead said as he walked over to his leader.

"Thank you Bulkhead," Optimus carefully took Bumblebee from him.

The sparkling tiredly gazed up at the red and blue Autobot leader before snuggling up against his chest and falling into a restful recharge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters that appear in the show. **

* * *

A small pain filled cry woke Optimus for the third time that night. He sighed as he looked at the small shaking sparkling that was curled up into a ball on his chest. The pains in Bumblebee's spark were getting worse, there was no denying that. And the more frequent the pains came, the guiltier the Autobot leader became. He was out of ideas on how to help Bumblebee. Ratchet had suggested that he stay off of patrols for a little while to spend more time around Bumblebee, but the sparkling's spark still had not synced to his at all, and Optimus was becoming more concerned about it. While Ratchet had said that there was a chance that it wouldn't work, all of them had been hopeful that it would.

"Shh Bumblebee," Optimus tried to sooth. "I know it hurts, but it will stop soon."

Bumblebee made a small whimper and curled up closer to the Prime's chest. Optimus gently cupped a hand around his body to keep him secure as he stood up and walked out of his room. He knew that he wouldn't be getting anymore recharge now. Being careful to not wake the others, Optimus headed into the main room of the base and gently placed Bumblebee down on the humans' couch. The sparkling immediately protested being removed from Optimus and grabbed on to one of his fingers – refusing to let it go. The Autobot leader didn't mind and managed to turn on the television to a cartoon for the sparkling to watch. It wasn't long until Bumblebee had managed to fall back into a light recharge, holding Optimus' finger close to his body. He gently picked the sparkling back up and held him close to his spark once again.

"You caught on faster than I thought you would with taking care of him."

Optimus turned to see Ratchet standing behind him.

"I am sorry if we woke you Ratchet," Optimus apologized. "I do not believe that this is working. Are there no other ways that could help Bumblebee?"

"No," the medic shook his head. Ratchet did a quick scan on Bumblebee's spark and one of Optimus' for comparison. While the tempo of Bumblebee's spark still did not match Optimus', there was a small similarity between the two. "I believe that you are wrong about it not working though Optimus."

Ratchet smiled at the small look of surprise on the Autobot leader's face.

"His spark is starting to sync up to yours," Ratchet confirmed. "It should only be a day or two until the pain in his spark will stop."

"That is good news to hear," Optimus said, glancing down at the recharging sparkling in his arms. "I do not wish for him to have to continue going through all of this pain."

* * *

Optimus was looking over some reports when Bumblebee woke back up, this time he was fortunately not in pain. The sparkling let out a few clicks and reached out for his stuffed bumblebee toy that June had given him. Optimus gave a slight smile as he handed Bumblebee the toy. He watched as the sparkling happily clicked and chirped at the toys as if he were having a conversation with it.

"If only it were this easy to keep occupied when you are a youngling," Optimus shook his head in amusement.

Bumblebee looked up at his guardian in curiosity before starting to click and chirp at Optimus instead of his toy. Even though he had no idea what the sparkling was trying to say to him, the Autobot leader decided to indulge the sparkling and continue talking to him.

"When you are a youngling you have to be doing something constantly otherwise you complain that you are bored."

The sparkling tilted his head as if he didn't believe Optimus, before smacking him on the chest with one of his hands.

"Bumblebee do not hit," Optimus gently scolded.

The small yellow sparkling let out what sounded like a whimper when he was scolded by Optimus – clearly letting it be known that he did not like for his guardian to be upset with him. Not wanting for the sparkling to become more upset, Optimus gently rested his head against his chest in order to calm him down. Bumblebee let out another whimper before snuggling to be closer to Optimus' spark. Optimus got back up to go get Bumblebee some energon – remembering that he had yet to feed the sparkling.

"His bottle is over there," Ratchet said the moment Optimus walked into the room.

"Thank you Ratchet," Optimus said as he carefully picked up the bottle. Bumblebee latched on immediately, happily suckling the energon.

"Optimus, we're taking the kids out for a ride. Can Bumblebee come with us?" Bulkhead asked walking over to his leader.

Optimus thought for a moment while Bumblebee was finishing his energon. Truthfully he would rather keep Bumblebee at the base where he would know that the sparkling would be safe. But he did know that Arcee and Bulkhead would protect Bumblebee with their sparks. Of course there was also the problem with the sparkling's spark. While Ratchet had said that he would be better soon, spending time away from him could make the process take even longer – something Optimus really did not want to happen. Then he could accompany Arcee and Bulkhead to ensure that Bumblebee would be alright. Right as Bumblebee finished drinking his energon, Optimus made his decision.

"Bumblebee can come, but I will be accompanying you as well."

"Really? You don't normally want to come on drives with us."

"Given Bumblebee's current condition, I believe that it would be best."

"Bulkhead come on!" Miko's voice brought Optimus' and Bulkhead's attention to the waiting humans.

Bulkhead walked over and transformed, allowing Miko and Raf to climb inside. Optimus made sure that Bumblebee had his stuffed toy and blanket before he transformed. Bumblebee let out a startled chirp when Optimus began to transform. And once the sparkling found himself sitting inside of a truck and not being able to see Optimus, he started to let out frightened whimpers.

"It is alright Bumblebee, I am still here," Optimus reassured.

Bumblebee let out a few curious clicks before he started to crawl around on the seat he was in. The sparkling managed to catch a glimpse of Jack sitting on Arcee's vehicle mode out of Optimus' window and let out happy chirps as he smacked his hand on the window to try to get Jack's attention. Finally the human looked up and waved at the sparkling, right before they all started to drive out of the base.

* * *

A little while later the three Autobots were taking a break while the humans played with the sparkling in the canyon. Arcee smiled when she watched Jack play with Bumblebee. It was so nice for her to see the two of them spending time together. She rarely saw that when Bumblebee was a youngling and it was a nice change. At least it was a nice change before Ratchet's voice came over the comm alerting them to an incoming Decepticon. Before they were even able to transform, Dreadwing landed in front of them.

"Protect the humans and Bumblebee," Optimus ordered Bulkhead and Arcee. The two nodded their heads in return, before Optimus turned his attention to Dreadwing. "What is it that you want Dreadwing?"

"To avenge my brother – you and your scout will pay for his death, Prime."

Jack, Miko, and Raf carefully pulled Bumblebee to hide with them behind a boulder – trying to make sure that the sparkling couldn't see the fight that was about to happen. Of course Jack also had to keep Miko from peering over the rock to watch so that they wouldn't be spotted by Dreadwing.

"Miko what are you doing?" he whispered as he tried to pull her down.

"Oh come on Jack, there's a giant robot smack down going on! I want to watch!"

"Yeah, but we can't let Dreadwing see us. You heard what he said, he wants to hurt Bumblebee and I don't think he can really defend himself right now," Jack said glancing down at the sparkling that was clutching his leg with a frightened look on his face.

"Fine," Miko pouted sitting back down.

The four of them could hear the sounds of fighting going on around them, right before Dreadwing landed right in front of them and gazed down directly at Bumblebee.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show. If I did, I would be giving the writers ideas for future episodes.**

* * *

Dreadwing had a mixture of confusion and frustration plastered across his face as he looked at Bumblebee. This couldn't be the same scout, could it? If it was, he was trapped. Honor was something that was important to Dreadwing, and he had far too much of it to kill a sparkling. He bent down to get a better look and pried the tiny yellow sparkling off of the human's leg. The sparkling's optics widened and immediately reached back out to the human, clearly wanting to get as far away from Dreadwing as possible. Dreadwing ignored his feeble attempts and stood back up. He caught a quick glance at Prime and the other two Autobots. They were all frozen in place, looking at the sparkling in Dreadwing's grip in alarm. After a moment, Optimus took a step towards him.

"Dreadwing, I ask that you please put Bumblebee down. He is a defenseless sparkling and has no recollection of what happened with Skyquake."

"I will not harm a sparkling," Dreadwing stated as he handed Bumblebee out to Optimus.

It was hard for the Decepticon to miss the immense relief on the Autobot leader's face as he stepped closer and took the sparkling from him. Immediately Bumblebee buried his head in Optimus' chest and pushed himself as close to the leader as possible. Optimus in return placed a hand over his body, effectively shielding him from Dreadwing's gaze. The Seeker watched the protective actions with a slight interest, especially when Optimus gazed reassuringly down at the sparkling.

"How did that happen to him?"

"Why do you want to know 'Con?" Arcee asked walking over, followed by Bulkhead.

"Shouldn't you already know?" Bulkhead added.

"So that's what it does," Dreadwing mused to himself realizing that this must had been a result of the newly acquired relic. "I meant what I said Prime. I will not harm your scout while he is a sparkling, but I will get my revenge once he is back to normal."

The three Autobots watched as Dreadwing transformed and flew away. Only a few seconds later did Jack, Miko, and Raf come out of their hiding spot and rush over to Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead.

"Are you okay?" Arcee asked bending down to get a better look at them.

"We're fine," Jack assured. "How's 'Bee?"

Optimus uncovered Bumblebee to let the others see him. The sparkling still had his head buried and both of his hands were clutching to the panels of Optimus' chest. His small form was trembling and Optimus could practically feel how fast his spark was pulsing. The Autobot leader gently rubbed his back, trying to give him some comfort. Silently Optimus made a decision that once Bumblebee was turned back into a youngling, he wouldn't be leaving the base by himself. He didn't want Dreadwing to have a chance at harming him.

"It's alright 'Bee, Dreadwing's gone," Arcee soothed placing a hand on the back of the sparkling's head. "You're safe."

Bumblebee let out a small whimper, but turned his head to look at Arcee who gave him a reassuring smile. Hesitantly Bumblebee reached out one hand to her, while the other kept a tight grip on Optimus. Gently she held his hand while using her other hand to rub tiny circles on the back of the sparkling's head. Slowly Bumblebee began to dim his optics – the closeness to his guardian's spark and Arcee's rubbing on his head was making him drowsy. Once he had fallen into a light recharge, Arcee stepped away.

"Do you think Dreadwing will tell Megatron about this?" Arcee asked Optimus.

"I do not know. Dreadwing has said that he will not harm Bumblebee in his current state and I believe that he is telling the truth about that. We can only hope that by extension he will not tell Megatron or any of the other Decepticons," Optimus answered before contacting Ratchet for a GroundBridge.

Once they were all inside the base, Optimus informed Ratchet on what had happened.

"He should be a lot calmer once he wakes up," Ratchet noted. "Once he sees that he's back here, he may not be as frightened. And may I suggest that he remains inside the base at all times while he is a sparkling?"

"I agree with your suggestion old friend. Taking Bumblebee out may become too much of a risk," Optimus gazed back down at the recharging sparkling in his arms. "And putting his life at risk is something that I will not allow."

Optimus turned away and headed towards his room. Once inside, he gently placed Bumblebee down on the berth – prying his hand away – and covered him with his blanket. Almost immediately did the sparkling wake and start whimpering, reaching back up for his guardian. Optimus sat down next to him and gently placed one of the sparkling's tiny hands in his own.

"It is alright Bumblebee, I am here. Now you need to go back to recharge," he soothed.

Instinctively Bumblebee tried to curl close to Optimus for more comfort. He hadn't understood what had happened earlier. All he knew was that there had been a big bot that didn't like him and it scared him. Optimus knew what the sparkling wanted and picked him back up and held him close again. Bumblebee let out a happy chirp and affectionately nuzzled Optimus' chest. Optimus gave a slight smile to the sparkling, half way wondering if Bumblebee would have recollection of this when he was returned to his youngling state.

"It is very hard to say no to you little one," Optimus lifted the sparkling up a little higher. Bumblebee let out a series of happy clicks in response and hugged the face of his guardian.

Optimus ended up letting out a small chuckle as he pried the sparkling off, "Now it is time for you to recharge Bumblebee."

He lowered the sparkling and started to rub circles on the back of his head like Arcee had done earlier. It wasn't long until Bumblebee was back in recharge and Optimus was able to lay him back down again. Once he was sure that he wouldn't wake the moment he left the room, Optimus left to rejoin the others. It wasn't long after he walked into the main room of the base that an alarm went off, alerting him and the others to Decepticon activity. The fact that there was activity so soon after Dreadwing had found out about Bumblebee made Optimus a bit wary. But there was a great chance that it had nothing to do with the sparkling at all.

"Ratchet, Bumblebee is recharging in my room. Hopefully I will be back before he wakes again."

Ratchet sighed as he opened the GroundBridge for Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead. He certainly hoped that Optimus _would _be back by the time Bumblebee decided to wake from recharge as the sparkling still didn't trust him. At least the humans were still there, they possibly would be able to keep him calm until Optimus returned.

* * *

Sure enough Ratchet picked up the sound of a small cry before Optimus returned. Dreading what was ahead of him, he headed towards Optimus' room to see what was wrong with the sparkling. Naturally the moment he walked into the room and Bumblebee caught a glimpse of him, the sparkling started to move away.

"Bumblebee, I'm not going to hurt you," the medic said in exasperation. "Optimus will be back soon, until then I'm watching you."

Bumblebee let out a small whimper, but slowly crawled closer to Ratchet. Finally the medic was able to pick him and carry him back to his med-bay. Ratchet decided that he would take the opportunity to do some more scans to see if he could think of any other way to turn him back to normal. As it was, the medic was fairly certain that there was nothing he could do unless they were able to get the relic from the Decepticons. And that, he feared, would be no easy task. After all it wasn't like the Decepticons were just going to hand it over. They would most likely have to wait for them to bring it to another battle before they would have an opportunity to grab it.

A small chirp brought Ratchet's attention back to Bumblebee. He ran a few quick scans over the sparkling's body, before the sparkling let out a series of annoyed chirps. Ratchet glanced back down at Bumblebee and noticed that he was reaching his arms out for one of his bottles.

"Hungry again? Alright," the medic smiled at the sparkling and began to fix the bottles while the three human teens watched.

Miko turned and looked at Jack and Raf.

"Ratchet's being nice. Weird."

"He has to be nice, otherwise Bumblebee wouldn't trust him," Raf spoke up.

"Yeah. I just can't wait until he gets turned back to normal and finds out that he was scared of all of us at first. It'll be awesome!" Miko laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.**

* * *

As soon as he finished feeding Bumblebee, Ratchet set the sparkling down next to the humans. They could keep him entertained; he needed to keep a watch on the monitors in case the others needed a GroundBridge. He glanced over for a moment to see the sparkling starting to play with Raf. Good, the two of them hadn't spent much time with each other since Bumblebee's transformation into a sparkling. Bumblebee and Raf were close when Bumblebee was a youngling, Ratchet was sure that their closeness would still remain even though Raf couldn't understand Bumblebee now. It had surprised the medic how Jack and Miko were also seemingly becoming closer to Bumblebee now. Of course Bumblebee was considering Jack to be an older brother, and Miko's antics most likely amused the sparkling.

"Here 'Bee, you can play with this car," Raf said as he handed the sparkling a toy car.

Bumblebee let out a series of happy clicks as he played with the car with Raf. He liked the toy that Raf was letting him play with. It reminded him of the things that the others like him had turned into. He had liked it when he got to ride inside of his guardian. It was fun until the mean, scary 'bot had come. Maybe if they went again, he wouldn't show up. He clicked and chirped out his thoughts to Raf, not knowing that the human had no idea what he was communicating.

"Uh-huh, that's cool 'Bee," Raf replied, pretending that he knew what Bumblebee was saying. He was pretty sure that the sparkling wouldn't be happy if he thought that he was being ignored.

Happy that the human had responded to him, Bumblebee crawled over and gave him a hug. Raf smiled and returned the gesture, much to the sparkling's delight. Raf had always noticed that his best friend liked receiving affection, be it a hug or just a hand on a shoulder. He had asked him about why that was before, but Bumblebee had simply shrugged and said that he didn't know. After getting to know him though, Raf had figured it out on his own. Bumblebee was a kid, just like he was. The difference was that Bumblebee had been through a whole lot more than he had, so as a result Bumblebee took comfort in receiving small displays of affection. And now that he was the Cybertronian equivalent to a baby, Raf figured it made sense that he would love giving and receiving hugs even more.

The two of them played for a little while longer until Bumblebee started to let out frustrated clicks and started to point at where the GroundBridge was located. Raf had looked at Ratchet in confusion as to what his friend wanted, and the medic had sighed and said that most likely Bumblebee was wanting Optimus.

"He'll probably be back soon with Bulkhead and Arcee 'Bee," Raf said trying to cheer up the pouting sparkling.

Bumblebee gave a sad chirp in response and continued to watch the GroundBridge. He was tired and wanted his guardian. He didn't understand why it was taking Optimus so long to return. Ratchet walked over and picked the sparkling up and held him close to his spark. He could tell that it was getting time for Bumblebee to recharge again, and he wasn't going to wait for an inevitable tantrum if Optimus didn't show up soon. If Bumblebee was tired, being held close to anyone's spark should be enough to lull him into a recharge. Sure enough it wasn't long before Bumblebee had drifted off into slumber, allowing Ratchet to return his attention to the monitors.

It was only a short while after Bumblebee had fallen into recharge that Optimus called for a GroundBridge. Fortunately none of them had been injured, so Ratchet was able to pass off Bumblebee to Optimus immediately. The sparkling didn't wake when Optimus took him from Ratchet and just curled up closer to his guardian's spark.

"So what were they after this time?"

"Energon, as usual," Arcee commented.

"Fortunately nothing seemed to indicate that the Decepticons, aside from Dreadwing, know about Bumblebee. Though both he and Megatron were absent from their excursion."

"That's not really surprising," Arcee pointed out. "Megatron usually only shows up if they're after a relic."

"I know," Optimus looked down at Bumblebee's recharging form. The sparkling's innocence made a surge of protectiveness flow through him. He would protect him that was for certain. And if Megatron somehow found out that he was becoming closer to Bumblebee, he would figure out a way to keep Bumblebee from ever running into Megatron.

* * *

"Have you considered adopting him?"

Ratchet's sudden question startled Optimus for a moment. Arcee and Bulkhead had left a short while ago to take the humans home, leaving only Ratchet, Bumblebee, and himself in the base.

"It has crossed my mind, and I have briefly considered it. While I would not mind adopting Bumblebee, I fear for his safety should I."

"I would normally advise you against it, but honestly Optimus the two of you are already close. When Bumblebee is eventually returned to his normal self, he is going to have recollections of you taking care of him. And considering the fact that he is still a youngling, he's going to miss you acting like a father to him."

"I could still act like a father to him without adopting him…"

"You and I both know that if you fear for his safety should you not adopt him, you're going to try to create a distance between the two of you."

"I have to Ratchet. I do not want to put him at risk. Should Megatron discover that I have grown close to Bumblebee, he would try to harm or kill him, just to harm me. That is not fair to Bumblebee. He should not have to suffer because of me."

"I understand Optimus. But may I suggest that you discuss this with Bumblebee once he is back to normal? You want to adopt him, and I believe that he would want you to adopt him as well. This should be something that the two of you decide on together."

"Your opinion is noted old friend. I will consider talking to Bumblebee about it once you are able to turn him back to a youngling."

A slight squirming in his arms brought the Autobot leader's attention back to Bumblebee. The sparkling was beginning to wake, and after a few moments he onlined his optics and let out quiet clicks. Once he noticed that it was Optimus that was holding him, his quiet clicks turned to happy ones and he snuggled up closer to his guardian. Optimus let out a small smile as he watched the sparkling. He knew that Ratchet was right about him wanting to adopt Bumblebee. In the short time that he had spent as Bumblebee's guardian, he had come to realize that he enjoyed taking care of him. He could already tell that the protectiveness he felt towards him at the moment would still remain once his scout was a youngling again. And truthfully he would not mind at all having Bumblebee as his adopted son. The only question was what would be best for Bumblebee – to adopt him as his son or to keep a safe distance to protect him from harm?


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in the show.**

* * *

"Prime! You care to explain this to me?"

Optimus turned to see Bumblebee sitting in front of Agent Fowler, tiny whimpers beginning to emit from the sparkling from where the human had yelled. Optimus made his way over to the two and gently picked Bumblebee up and let the sparkling snuggle up close to his spark. He hadn't expected that Bumblebee would end up going over to Fowler before he had had a chance to explain the situation to him. The Autobot leader supposed the time the sparkling had spent around Jack, Miko, and Raf had helped him feel less afraid around humans.

"There was an accident with a relic, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons hit Bumblebee with it and turned him into a sparkling."

"A what?"

"A sparkling is similar to what you would call a baby."

"Can't you turn him back to normal?"

"As of now, no. We do not have the relic in our possession, and without it we do not have a direct way to change him back. Ratchet is trying to find a way, but is not sure if it is possible without the relic."

"I see."

Right then Bumblebee started to pat at Optimus' chest. Optimus glanced down to see Bumblebee starting to point towards Arcee. Understanding what the sparkling wanted, he walked over to the femme and handed her Bumblebee. The sparkling let out a happy chirp and rested his head on her chest.

"Do you mind watching him for a while?" Optimus asked.

"No problem," Arcee replied, shifting Bumblebee to where he would be in a more comfortable position. "Has he had any energon yet?"

"No, he has not."

"Alright, come on 'Bee, let's get you some energon."

Arcee walked over to the med-bay listening to Bumblebee let out quiet little clicks as she walked. She had to admit that it was really precious. Of course Bumblebee's sparkling-self was naturally adorable, so she really shouldn't have been surprised by that. She also had to admit that she had the feeling that she would sort of miss sparkling Bumblebee once he was turned back to normal. Sure she missed having youngling Bumblebee around and would be glad to have him back, it was just nice seeing him not knowing about the war and the things that had happened in it. It was nice seeing him have a little bit of a, somewhat, normal younglinghood like the rest of them had been able to have. When she reached the med-bay, she grabbed one of Bumblebee's bottles and filled it up with energon before feeding it to Bumblebee. She gave a slight smile as the sparkling grasped her fingers as he drank the liquid.

"So what are we going to do once you've finished? Play or are you going to want to take a nap?"

A tiny yawn when she removed the bottle was her answer.

"Looks like a nap it is," she stated as she headed towards her room.

As soon as she arrived, she gently placed Bumblebee down on the berth. Almost instantly the sparkling reached out to her while looking at her pleadingly.

"Oh come on 'Bee, I know you don't make Optimus take naps with you."

The sparkling merely let out a small whimper and continued to reach for her in response. The femme gave a small sigh of defeat and laid down on the berth. Immediately Bumblebee curled up against her, causing her to smile. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him a little closer before gently rubbing the back of his head to lull him into recharge. It wasn't long after Bumblebee fell into recharge that Arcee fell into a small one herself.

* * *

Optimus was glad that Arcee was watching Bumblebee for a little while. This gave him the perfect opportunity to think about the potential adoption. He wanted to have his views on the matter settled before Ratchet was able to turn Bumblebee back. While that could take a while, he had no idea if or when he would have some time to himself to think again in the future. It was a difficult decision to make, as there were many things to consider. And then there was the most important question for him: What would be the best decision for Bumblebee?

He did not want to hurt Bumblebee that was for certain. And there in that laid his problem. It seemed that with his only two options, Bumblebee would get hurt, in some way, either way. If he adopted Bumblebee and Megatron, or any other Decepticon for that matter, found out about it, he would be a clear target. If he chose not to adopt the youngling, and instead forced a distance between them, there was a great chance that Bumblebee would be hurt emotionally. Ratchet's words of how Bumblebee would miss having him act like a father to him… and truthfully he would miss it too. But was that enough of a reason to adopt him? Adoption would also allow Bumblebee to have a family again. As he had been orphaned at a young age, Bumblebee had no memories of what it was like to have creators. Was it right to deny him to opportunity to have an adopted creator for the rest of his younglinghood? It didn't seem like it would be right to Optimus if that was something that Bumblebee wanted to have. Optimus was beginning to believe that he would never be able to reach a decision until he was able to discuss the matter with Bumblebee himself.

A new thought emerged, what if Ratchet was unable to find another way to turn Bumblebee back to normal? If that happened, they would have to hope that the Decepticons would bring the relic out during a battle and hope that they would be able to take it from them. If they were unable, there was a good chance that Bumblebee would be reliving his sparkling years. In that situation, Optimus would have to make the decision on adopting him on his own. For some reason, making a decision if Bumblebee had to remain a sparkling was easier for him. Remaining a sparkling, Bumblebee would not be anywhere near battles, or Megatron – he would be safe.

* * *

When Arcee woke from recharge, Bumblebee was laying on her face. She let out an annoyed sigh as she pried him off. Bumblebee let out a happy chirp and clapped his tiny hands together when she removed him from her face, as if it had been a game. Maybe to him it was, after all she had no way of knowing for sure.

"What were you doing?" she asked him when he let out several chirps. "You are a silly, adorable sparkling, you know that?"

She placed Bumblebee back on the berth and started to tickle him. She was slightly surprised when Bumblebee let out what sounded like a giggle. He hadn't made that noise before. The only sounds the sparkling had made were various clicks, chirps, and cries. A giggle was new, and Arcee was all too eager to hear him make it again. She quickly renewed her tickling attack on Bumblebee, and soon enough all the sparkling could do was squirm and giggle under his tickle torturer. Soon the femme stopped and waited for Bumblebee's giggling fit to stop. The moment he stopped, he snuggled up against her.

"Did you like that?"

Bumblebee let out a small click in response.

"Well I need to take you back to Optimus now. I have to go pick up Jack." Arcee smiled when the sparkling perked up slightly when she mentioned her human partner's name. "Maybe he, Raf, and Miko will tickle you some more."

Arcee got off the berth with Bumblebee in her arms, left her room, and headed toward Optimus' – knowing that the Autobot leader was likely to be there. The moment she stepped inside and Bumblebee caught a glimpse of Optimus, he started to struggle in her grip and reach out towards his guardian. Optimus turned around when he heard Bumblebee's clicks and chirps and took him from the femme. Arcee watched as Bumblebee curled up close to Optimus' spark, clearly wanting to be near the warmth that it gave off.

"Did he give you any trouble?" Optimus asked.

"No. He ate his energon, took a nap, and then he giggled."

"Giggled?"

"Bumblebee is ticklish," Arcee explained, reaching out to tickle the sparkling, earning another giggle from him.

Bumblebee glanced up at Optimus and tried to press himself closer, when Arcee tried to tickle him again, obviously hoping that the Autobot leader would be a shield from another tickle attack. Optimus caught on and placed a hand over his body. The sparkling let out a happy chirp, causing Arcee to let out a small laugh before she left the room.

"Did you have fun with Arcee, little one?" Optimus glanced down at the sparkling.

Several clicks and chirps were his answer as the sparkling snuggled closer to him once again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any of the characters in it.**

* * *

Optimus glanced over at where Bumblebee was playing with his toy in front of Jack, Miko, and Raf, before turning his attention back to the others. While the sparkling was happily clicking and giggling as he played, the rest of them were discussing how they could turn him back to normal. Ratchet had completely decided that there was nothing he could do to reverse Bumblebee's transformation without the relic that had caused it. Unfortunately none of them had seen the relic since it had first been found – leaving them with no idea on how they would be able to get it back.

"The 'Cons probably don't know what to do with it," Arcee stated. "Dreadwing didn't even know what it did until he saw 'Bee."

"So we don't even know if Megatron knows what it does," Bulkhead added.

"And it is likely that if Megatron does know, he will wait before bringing it out again," Optimus mused. "He will want us to have to deal with one less team member for a while."

Ratchet nodded, "And he probably hopes that we start running low on energon as well. If he knows that the relics can turn a Cybertronian into a sparkling, then he'll most likely learn that sparklings typically consume more energon. If we arrived at the point where our energon supply was dwindling again, it would be the perfect time for the relic to show up again."

The Autobot leader certainly hoped that they wouldn't arrive at that point. While Bumblebee was consuming more energon now that he was a sparkling, their energon supply was still at a moderate level. As much as he hoped they would find a way to turn Bumblebee back, arriving at the point where some of his team would have to go with little energon was not something he wanted to see. They would just have to hope that Megatron would bring out the relic before something like that could happen.

"We could ask 'Jackie to keep a watch out for the relic," Bulkhead suggested. "Bring him over, explain it to him, and then we have more help."

"You may contact him and ask him to come, Bulkhead," Optimus said in agreement.

"Ga!"

The sudden small, infantile voice startled all of the Autobots. Almost instantly all of the Autobots turned their shocked gazes to Bumblebee. The tiny sparkling was oblivious to the looks of surprise that he was receiving from the Autobots and humans alike. Optimus was the first to get out of his shock, and carefully picked up the sparkling to gain his attention. Bumblebee let out a happy click and giggled as he tried to snuggle against Optimus. Ratchet managed to get out of his stupor and motioned for Optimus to go over to the medical bay with Bumblebee. Everyone followed as Ratchet prepared to do scans on the sparkling's voice box.

"That's impossible," the medic almost whispered.

"I thought you said there was no way to fix it," Arcee said, her gaze still on the sparkling.

"There wasn't," Ratchet shook his head. "I don't know how this happened. I had scanned it when I discovered his spark wasn't pulsing properly, but the scan was inconclusive. I assumed that the scan wouldn't work, because Bumblebee's voice box was smaller and not exactly the same as before. But now… it's showing that it's completely fixed."

"Ga!" Bumblebee repeated.

"So will he still be able to talk whenever he gets turned back to normal?" Raf asked, turning the Autobots' attentions back to the humans.

"I don't know," Ratchet admitted. "There's a good chance that he will be able to, but I won't know for sure until he's turned back to normal."

"But how did this happen?" Arcee asked.

It was Optimus who answered, "Perhaps the relic that caused this does not simply turn a Cybertronian to a sparkling, but instead reverses time on the individual."

"It makes sense," Ratchet agreed. "If one of us had been hit by it instead, it might not have had as much of an impact on us. But Bumblebee is still a youngling, depending on how much time it reverses, it would stand to reason that he would end up a sparkling. Optimus, if Megatron discovers this himself, he might not bring the relic out anymore. Unless he can change the amount of time, he would have nothing to gain by using it on any of us."

"We will figure out a way to get the relic back, Ratchet."

* * *

Bumblebee clicked and chirped as Arcee sat him down on her berth. The femme had decided to watch the sparkling while Optimus went on a patrol. She was also curious if she could get Bumblebee to say anything other than 'Ga'. It had been a long time since she had heard Bumblebee talk, and even then she had only heard him for a few times on the rare occasions she saw the scout before she really got to know him. She really hoped that he would still have his voice whenever they were able to get him back to being a youngling. And Arcee had to smile at the irony of what had happened. While Megatron had been the one who stole Bumblebee's voice, he had also, unknowingly, gave it back to him.

"Okay 'Bee, let's try to get you to say an actual word," Arcee said sitting on the ground, so she was in front of the sparkling. "Can you say 'Bee?"

"Ga!"

"No. 'Bee," Arcee repeated, before sounding out the word for the sparkling.

"Ga!"

"'Bee."

"Ga!"

"'Bee."

"Bwe?"

"That's close. Let's try one more time, 'Bee."

"Bee!"

"That's right. Your name is 'Bee," Arcee smiled at the sparkling while she pointed at him, hoping that would help him understand that he had said his name.

"Bee!" Bumblebee giggled as he pointed at himself like Arcee had done.

"My name is close to yours. It's 'Cee. Can you say 'Cee?"

"Cee!"

"Good job 'Bee," Arcee said giving the sparkling a hug. "Let's try one last word. Hmm, Optimus would probably be too hard for you to say. You think you could say Opt?"

Bumblebee was quiet for a moment, before he managed to get out, "Op?"

"That works. We can try to teach you the others' names later. I want to make sure you remember mine, yours, and Optimus' names first."

"Cee, Cee, Cee!"

"Uh-huh, and what's your name?"

"Bee!" the sparkling pointed to himself once again.

When Arcee heard the sounds of Optimus' vehicle mode entering the base, she carefully picked Bumblebee up and walked into the main room. She knew that the sparkling would want to see his guardian again soon, and she wanted to see if Bumblebee would show Optimus what he had learned to say. Almost the second she walked into the room, Bumblebee started to squirm in her arms and reach out for Optimus.

"Op!" the sparkling chirped, immediately gaining the attention of the Autobot leader.

Optimus looked slightly surprised as he walked over and took Bumblebee from Arcee. It was going to take him time to get used to Bumblebee talking again. He was happy that his scout finally had his voice back, even though he had had to turn into a sparkling to regain it. However, Ratchet's words about him not being positive if Bumblebee's voice would remain if he was turned back into a youngling weighed heavily on his mind. He knew that, most likely, he wasn't the only one thinking about that, and Arcee's next words ended up confirming his suspicion.

"Could we just let him grow up again?" the femme asked. "It just doesn't seem worth it, if he just ends up losing his voice again. And 'Bee probably wouldn't like knowing that he had had his voice back for a little while, but couldn't keep it."

"I agree with your sentiments Arcee. I believe we will all have to deeply consider whether it would be best for Bumblebee to remain a sparkling. If we do reach that decision, it may be best to begin stockpiling more energon to have, so we will not run low."

"I can try to find some more energon deposits on my next patrol. We were going to have to find another one sometime soon anyway."

"Cee! Cee!" Bumblebee pointed at the femme.

Arcee wasn't sure if Bumblebee had understood what she had said to Optimus, but she decided to pretend that he had.

"Yeah, 'Cee will find it."


End file.
